Friday, 13 August 2010

My faith is the enabler of everything I do and that I am and is central to my life. I am on the electoral roll of St John’s Waterloo, North Lambeth Deanery, London. I hope and pray that you will give me your 1st preference vote (or if you are standing yourself do give me one of your top 5 votes) because I firmly believe that I can make a difference as a Synod member in implementing policies that will send a strong message steeped in Christian values to society. The following are my manifesto issues. I wish to help the General Synod seek the Christian truth to these problems.

1. The Compassion Agenda
• The time is right for the Church to assert itself as a major player in the concept of the Big Society because the State is not able to provide for the needs of everyone and with the recession this is truer than ever.
• The Church has a fantastic starting position because it has always played a big role in providing good will to people but it can assert itself as a powerful Third Sector force now in tackling issues that plague our communities.

2. Inclusion
• I am an Asian Minority woman and am the only Asian person who attends my church on a regular basis.
• I am fully supportive of LGBT issues and of women Bishops.
• General Synod needs to demonstrate a more inclusive agenda that respects the Christian values and an all embracing gospel message.

3. Education
• One million children and young people in state primary schools and state secondary schools are educated in Church of England schools.
• These children are the future attendees of the Church and it is imperative that Christianity forms the main basis of Religious Education in the school curriculum.
• The Church has a central educational role to play in producing young adults who are able to take their place in the world as well qualified and skilled Christians.

4. Globalisation
• The Church of England is no stranger to globalisation and is one of the pioneers of the concept due the presence of Anglican churches globally.
• The Church has a responsibility to ensure that the discourse of Globalisation includes its’ values such as peace, faith, justice and freedom of worship especially in working towards the eradication of urgent and distressing issues such as global poverty, human trafficking and an unequal distribution of economic power.

5. Environment
• Everything was made by God and we owe him a deep debt to recognise the stewardship of creation and to ensure that the environment is not wrecked by man’s actions.
• The particular challenge for the Church is to demonstrate that there are Christian reasons for ‘going green’ and it isn’t an issue that is purely about setting politically motivated emission targets.

Who I am:
I am 47 years old, married with a daughter aged 10. At church I am a server; teach Sunday school; member of Waterloo Parish Charities Committee and St.John’s Outreach Committee; I have been a member of the PCC and was involved in the restoration of the use of St. Andrew’s, Waterloo. I read law and work in the Civil Service as a Senior Policy Officer and have policy making responsibility for the UK Electronics sector. I am a Liberal Democrat activist and sit on the ‘Quality of Life’ National Committee and am an executive member of the Liberal Democrats European Group. My interests are reading with a bias towards political and social issues, travel and blogging.

I would be delighted if you would care to introduce yourself and leave a comment below.

Monday, 9 August 2010

Welcome and thank you for taking the trouble to look at my blog. My first round of events in the whole process of standing for election to the House of Laity starts today with an evening drinks party at Southwark Cathedral. I am looking forward to meeting the other candidates and the lay members of the Synod.
I consider it an honour to have been asked to stand. I chose to become an Anglican some years ago and have followed the proceedings of the General Synod through the years in the media. The issues discussed there are ones that I consider important for the future of the Church.
I will be blogging on a regular basis and urge you to leave a comment.